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Ashland Youth Ball Association - AYBA

Ashland Youth Ball Association - AYBA

September 2015 Minutes

 

 



AYBA Board of Directors

Meeting Minutes

September 20, 2015


Ashland Youth Ball Association Board of Directors Meeting for September 2015 was called to order by John Keith in the ACRC Conference Room.  All votes during meeting are noted in these minutes in italics.

Present:  John Keith (President),  Bob Crisler (Secretary),  Dave Nygren (treasurer), Brian Miller (vp/baseball), Mark Adel (vp/baseball/Legion), Nate Tonjes .  Russ Westerhold not present

Community members:  Kristina Ryan, Steve Novotny, Barb Novotny, Stefanie Novotny, Amber Dutcher, Kristen Goff, Taylor Goff, Doug Whitehead, Shari Nygren

Approval of Documents

John Keith presented the Minutes of the August 2015 meeting.  Error noted… minutes mistakenly state July 2015 meeting, should be August 2015 (Dave, Dan 2nd, approved as ammended)

Dave Nygren presented the Treasurers Report.  (Bob, Brian 2nd, approved)

Officer Elections

John Keith called for Board Officer nominations.  Nate Tonjes nominated for vp/softball.  Mark Adel nominated for vp/Legion Baseball.  Brian Miller nominated for vp/youth baseball.  John Keith (President), Dave Nygren (Treasurer) and Bob Crisler (Secretary) nominated to continue their current officer positions.  John Keith called for vote for all Board Officer nominations to be approved as nominated.  (Unanimously approved).

Old Business

            John and Bob discussed the meeting held at the Yutan American Legion concerning the Legion baseball co-op between Ashland, Mead and Yutan.  There is one parent (who also wants to be coach) trying to break up the co-op saying it is in best interest of Yutan players.  Other parents in attendance did not agree.  AYBA,  Ashland Legion, Yutan Legion and Yutan players were represented at the meeting.  Ultimately the final decision is for Ashland and Yutan Legions to make.  The next meeting will be held at the Ashland American Legion on the 2nd Sunday of October 7:30 pm.  John also updated all that AGHS/Yutan HS are in process of interviewing for baseball head coach and assistant for the Platte Valley Patriots (HS Co-op team).  These individuals were invited to the co-op meeting in Ashland.

Krsitina Ryan, parent of AYBA /Legion Player indicated there is an email going around from Luke Wooster (?) bad mouthing the co-op and trying to get it dissolved.  

New Business

            Coach Appreciation Dinner – It was discussed that a coach appreciation dinner should still take place this fall.  Bob Crisler was going to talk with the Legion about the possibility of this happening on a Sunday afternoon.

            Discussion of Sign-up dates.  There was discussion that AYBA needs to try and have registrations  in December early January 2015 in an effort to be better prepared for 2016 seasons.  On-line registrations were discussed and Nate Tonjes indicated that they were successful in Gretna softball and basketball leagues that his family and been involved with previously.   Nate will gather more information and provide to Board members for review.  Shari Nygren talked about the Todd Valley league and team meetings beginning in late February and early March each year.  She stressed the importance of having AYBA teams organized by then.  There was also discussion of the 10U, 12U and 14U leagues in Todd Valley and how AYBA teams fit in Todd Valley and if other leagues need to be explored.  Shari indicated that there is a rotating schedule for the Todd Valley League tournaments and that AYBA should be thinking of hosting possibilities.  Shari also mentioned that AYBA should contact Roni Woboken (ASA District 8 representative) about hosting a district tournament in 2016 (2nd/3rd weekend of June) with new concession being done and Ashland having available fields.

Other Discussion Items – The floor was opened to all in attendance for discussion of any issues.

  • Shari asked the Board to visit the installation of flag pole now that the concession stand is near completion.  She indicated a few years ago before most of current Board members had been elected that her family had donated money to AYBA (Ashland Area Foundation?) for installation of a flag pole in memory of her parents.  John K indicated that he and Dave Nygren would look into these funds and begin the planning process to include her family.
  • Steve Novotny asked the Board what the goal of AYBA was and initiated discussion for the need of defined AYBA Goals/Mission Statement.  Steve also mentioned being present at many of grand-daughters softball games and over hearing dis-satisfaction of many parents towards the competitive vs recreational teams, what teams their daughters participated on, unsatisfied about practices, games and coaches.  The discussion brought attention to the Board the need to closely look at the Goals, philosophies and mission of the AYBA program.  One of Steve’s important questions was “Where do you draw the lines on competition levels? At what age group?”
  • Stefanie Novotny indicated that AYBA has gotten to be respected of having very good softball programs and she is worried about the program being able to meet those levels of high expectations.  Stefanie indicated that she had written guidelines for each age level of softball player and handed these out to each of the coaches at the beginning of the year.  She indicated that this progress would now be lost.  Stefanie indicated that she had 30+ years of softball experience and now the program is now going to suffer.  Stefanie voiced her concerns about the softball program being “run by someone without softball experience”.  Nate then spoke up about his experience coaching both son and daughter in youth sports and his experience at HS assistant football coach.  Amber Dutcher then also spoke about Nate’s proven ability to coach youth sports and that her confidence in his abilities to run the softball program.
  • Kirsten Goff discussed that many youth programs in the Ashland area (football and basketball specifically) actively involve the High School coaches in an effort to build stronger youth programs which include consistency of coaching techniques, philosophies and involvement of the HS athletes in development of the youth players.  Kristen indicated that the high school staff has NOT been asked to be involved in the AYBA youth programs.  Stefanie N initiated a heated discussion with Amber Dutcher (HS Head Softball Coach) specifically questioning Coach Dutcher why she was not involved with AYBA.  Dutcher responded that she had tried to be involved but that Stefanie did not contact the coaching staff after an initial discussion.  Coach Dutcher also reminded Stefanie that at times her involvement was limited by NE NSAA rules about HS coaches during specific times of the year.
  • Coach Dutcher continued the discussion of involvement of HS programs in the development of the youth players with development of consistent coaching techniques, consistent coaching of game fundamentals and teaching consistent age appropriate skill sets.  Having consistent high levels of expectations and setting benchmarks for development of the player’s abilities. Dutcher spoke about the availability of HS staff to conduct spring clinics / seminars (especially for coaches) and stressed the importance of practice even in the “off-season”.
  • Kristina Ryan also spoke about concern for the program and that four different people approached her at the ASA Class C State tournament about going to play elsewhere based on their concerns of how the program was being run.

John Keith concluded the meeting by summarizing he concerns of those in attendance and that the Board would definitely be discussing many items prior to next season including AYBA program goas; where to draw the line for competition levels; involvement of HS coaches to develop a program which benefits the athlete this year and for many years to come; long-term program coaches; increased volunteer involvement; hosting league and district tournaments.             

Meeting Adjourned  (Bob/ Nate 2nd/unanimous)

 

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